The Chronicles of the New Jedi Knights: Part Two
by archangel2
Summary: a SW story that you probably don't care about unless you've already been reading it. I won't be finishing it or writing future chapters. if you want to know how i had planned it to end or had story related questions you can email me and i'll probably answ
1. Secrecy

Greetings, I am back. Sorry it took so long to get part 2 out, I hope that my limited writing skill will entertain you enough to make it worth it. Ok, I think that's about it for my preamble.

Announcement: I will accept no more characters unless they're insanely well designed, or I feel I really need them for the story.

Apologies: Sorry, in a disclaimer in chapter 4 (I think) of part 1 I made a mistake; the _White Fang_ was designed by Gundam Warrior.

Disclaimer: Cyru belongs to Shadowcell

The Chronicles of the New Jedi Knights: Prelude to Darkness Secrecy 

          "Darth Hatre," a young Vor approached him. "I have word that two Jedi Masters are en route to Couruscant and that they plan to discuss the Sith with the Senate,"

           The Sith Lord's brows furrowed, it was too early for anyone but the Jedi to learn of their existence. "Use the operatives on Couruscant, don't let them reach the Senate."

          The two Jedi Masters Luke and Kaeldra strode down the streets of Couruscant with purpose, there was no time to waste, they had to reach the Imperial Palace and speak with the senate. The more they walked, the less people there seemed to be, it seemed that if anyone saw them they found a reason to be a street away, or several streets away, Jedi weren't considered a good thing among the general populace of the New Republic, one reason why there were fewer than 150 full Jedi. Before long, besides themselves there was no one else in sight, a very rare thing on the streets of Couruscant, but it was all to the better, it allowed them to move with more speed. 

          Without warning, an intangible force collided with both of them and sent them sprawling into an alley. Luke rolled when he hit the ground, and he landed in a fighting stance with his lightsaber ignited, Kaeldra had managed to use the force to recover herself with the force and was standing with her necklace clutched in her hand. 

          Two figures stepped into the alley, both carrying lightsabers and wearing black hooded robes. A third figure leaned nonchalantly against the side of the alley, clad in a long gray coat that resembled a robe. "Time to die Jedi," one of the two said. 

          He ignited an orange lightsaber and his friend ignited a blue saber. "Not likely," replied Kaeldra as her scythe pendant grew until it was almost as tall as she. The Sith charged, attacking furiously. Luke parried each attack with ease as Kaeldra avoided her opponent's assaults. The man in front of her snarled and raised his lightsaber over his head for a powerful strike. Kaeldra struck him with the handle of her scythe in the solar plexus, as the wind left his lungs the Jedi Master swung and cleaved him in half at the midsection. His upper torso fell from the lower half of his body and sprayed blood onto her face and robe. She glanced at Luke, a corpse with a singing whole puncturing his heart at his feet. That left the third one. He approached them slowly, unless he was very good at masking his ability, he was no Jedi.

          "Before we get started, I would like to say that I have no grudge against either of you."

          Almost before he had finished speaking a blaster appeared in each of his hands, Luke deflected the shots aimed at him with his lightsaber, Kaeldra managed to jump out of the line of fire and pull the weapons from his hands with the aid of the force. The man sighed before a look of concentration crossed his face.

          Neither Luke or Kaeldra sensed anything from him, in fact, they sensed nothing. With jolting suddenness the force left both masters. Kaeldra was unfamiliar with this, but Luke had felt it before, on Myrkr.

          Before either could question, the man drew two more blasters from his belt and attempted to gun them down. Without the force to aid them, both had a difficult time avoiding death. Luke concentrated and pressed forward, the man avoided each slash easily, but at the cost of his attack. With the blaster fire no longer present, Kaeldra had the opportunity to rush him. Moments later, the man had his hands on his head and the tip of Kaeldra's scythe pressed against his neck. 

          "How did you suppress our force abilities?" she questioned. The man smiled and replied, "this target is far too costly."

          A flash of light crossed Kaeldra's vision and she recognized a burning sensation in her gut. She looked down to see a blaster wound. Where was her scythe? She must have dropped it. Why was she sitting on the ground, she had been standing a moment before. Tired. No! stay awake. Her vision started to blur. A figure stood over her and reached out to her. She could feel the force again, but she was so tired.

          Kevin Palor ran through the jungle of Yavin IV, trying to put himself into the flow state some of the other trainees had been talking about. _When you fight you can't think, you have to fight by feel._ That's what one of them had said. Kevin had always done fine in fights, and he was constantly thinking. But then again, usually he was fighting someone who wasn't as good as he was, or was much better, and how did that Dark Knight move so fluidly? Kevin's movements had always been jerkier, more abrupt. But the Knight's movements were smooth.  That was part of the infuriating part of that fight. Kevin was faster than the Knight, he knew he was. As evidence he moved slower than any of them. Yet his blades were always there, blocking this attack, parrying that one. He looked more like he was dancing than fighting.  

          Kevin stopped as his foot became wet. The young Jedi trainee pulled his foot from the water, and saw what lay before him. It was another temple, but not one he had ever seen, or heard of in his time at the academy. Maybe they didn't know about it. It was probably abandoned, and exploring an abandoned temple beat running in the jungle any day.

          Treen Tsi and Lorania watched the young Jedi gaze at the temple they were in with interest. Doing exactly the opposite of what they wanted him to do, he strode towards the entrance. 

          "Lorania," said Treen. "Can you alter someone's memory?"

          Lorania nodded. "Good," replied Treen. "We must avoid detection, so we must render him unconscious. I will fight him, and while I do, keep him from summoning his comrades."

          The younger Sith nodded. There was barely a trace of the fear that had haunted her for so long left. You could still see it in her eyes, if you knew how to look. And where to find one's fears was one of the first things Treen had learned. 

          Kevin walked the halls of this new temple uneasily. There was a feeling of evil that saturated this place, and there was something else, something that was impending. Kevin spun when he heard two almost simultaneous clicks behind him. What he saw, was a boy about his age, dressed all in black, wearing a cape draped over broad shoulders and hid the rest of his form. Long black hair fell motionless to his shoulders, and a mix of emotions in his eyes; anger, fear, anticipation, excitement, longing, and sorrow. A small smirk was on his face. Kevin recognized him, he was the Sith he had battled on Couruscant. 

          "Well, Jedi," he said. "Or perhaps 'would-be Jedi' would be more appropriate. It seems you have found me, shall we fight?" 

          Kevin's eye caught something from under that cape, it looked like light glistening off of a piece of metal. The young Sith removed his cape, and Kevin saw that the Sith was clad in metal plates, spikes and blades protruding from many different places, and two especially long, curved blades protruding from his forearms. It was the same nightmare all over again. _HELP ME!_  Kevin sent out a mental message for help, but no one responded. A dark aura surrounded his opponent. There were few things that Kevin Palor feared, but the Dark Knight was one of them. The man before him started talking, each word growing in volume and intensity. "Why not run Jedi? You might escape. Tell the others about me, acquire their aid! Or maybe you could spare your own life by begging for mercy, I'm willing to hear your pleas! Or are you foolish enough to oppose me? You know what will happen if you do, don't you?"    

          Kevin tried to call for help again, but nothing happened. "I will resist you with my dying breath if need be, Sith," he spat the last word out for the curse it was. "But the only thing you will see from me is resistance!" 

          "Well then," replied the dark figure before him. "You will die!" 

          Kevin lost consciousness. 

          Treen attempted not to slump more than he absolutely had to in front of the one that had been place in his charge, but that illusion had drained most of his strength. For a true Sith of his strength, it would have been child's play, but for him, as untrained as he was, it was a supreme effort. It was good that Lorania had fired that stun blast when she had. "Now," he said. "change his memory," Lorania shook her head. "His mind is too strong. I can not alter it completely, not without rest." Treen sighted. 

          "Can you make it seem as if it was a dream?" he asked. Lorania nodded. 

          After Lorania had altered the would-be Jedi's memory, Treen dragged Kevin into the jungle and hit his head hard against a branch, so that when he awoke he would believe that he had hit his head on it and lost consciousness. Treen walked tiredly back to the massassi temple that he now inhabited. Lorania was sitting on the floor leaning against a wall. "What are your thoughts of?" he asked.

          She looked up at him, her dark green eyes staring out at him from in between green and brown skin. "It is good that we did not kill the Jedi," she said.

          Treen nodded, it was an obvious statement, but it was also not good to berate those you were in authority over. Instead of pointing out that she had stated the obvious he said, "Yes, his presence would have noticed missing eventually and we would have been found." Treen walked on, but he didn't hear Lorania whisper, "that's not why it's good."

Well, that's it for chapter one of part two, did you like it? I hope so. Oh, and sorry about this taking so long, I don't really have much of a good excuse this time except for a small case of writer's block. Anyway, make sure you review!


	2. Sparring

Well, everyone, I am back with chapter 2. If you have something you forgot to tell me about your char, feel free to im me or email me. Oh, yeah, whoever reviews this fic (not just part two, but all other parts are included as well) the most(at least until a certain point), their char will get something special, I haven't decided what yet, maybe a cool eq or force ability. Maybe an entire part dedicated to that char. But yeah, make sure you review (gotta love incentive)!!

Chronicles of the New Jedi Knights: Prelude to Darkness 

Sparring 

          The Jedi Master Kaeldra awoke to the view of Luke Skywalker kneeling over. Remembering what happened she searched for a sensation of pain, but found none, Luke must have healed her from her wound. "Blaster?" she asked.

          Luke nodded. "He ran away. Come on, we need to get to the Palace."

          Treen Tsi walked to the place in the massassi temple he had chosen to sleep, but someone unexpected met him.

          "Sith,"  a hateful voice rasped. Treen looked to the source of the voice, but nothing was there. 

          "You have made a mistake!"  The voice rasped from beside his ear. Treen spun and saw the figure that he had disguised himself as to frighten that Jedi. Although he believed they were allies, Treen felt very afraid of this person. "No one mimics me!" the voice rasped angrily. Treen blinked in confusion, and when he did he found himself unable to breath, because the figure was gripping his throat. 

          "The fear of my presence must be maintained!" he rasped loudly. 

          "And now you will be punished for it!" Treen noted a gleam of sadism in the other's eyes. 

          "Treen," Lorania's voice drifted from a nearby hallway. When she came into view of the door, the man that was lifting Treen from the ground extended his arm towards her and his long forearm blade that had been turned backwards flipped forward until it's point was pressing against her neck. Her eyes widened in recognition and fear. "Lorania," the man said. "You will continue this mission solo until Treen awakens from his trance." 

          Treen felt consciousness leaving him from lack of oxygen; his vision was already fading. At that point the man dropped him on the ground and waved his hand over Treen. Treen was just regaining his breath when he lost his consciousness and found himself in a dark void.

          Galen was outside, one of those rare times he left his ship to spar with Cyru. Well, it wasn't technically sparring. Sparring had rules; they had apparently forgotten that. The only rules they were using were: no force, and no killing. Galen was definitely on the defense, Cyru attacked with stunning speed and incredible accuracy, never mind strength, but few actually made contact. Actually none had, Galen was dodging every attack, but just barely. Galen had landed a punch or two earlier, hard punches _harder than when he ever sparred one of us _Alanna thought, but Cyru, it seemed, didn't even feel it.         

          Many people would be driven back in a straight line, trying to avoid an assault like that, but Galen was working different angles, and the two seemed to be going in circles, covering the same place over and over again. Neither showed signs of tiring, but Galen must have been feeling the strain because one punch made contact with his midsection. The force of the blow knocked Galen back, but in the air he managed to get his feet behind him so that he could spring off of the tree that he would have hit. It was a precarious maneuver, it was extremely easy to lose balance and be in a far worse position than you would have been. For Galen, it worked however. He sprung towards his opponent trying to tackle him. Cyru sidestepped and Galen missed his target. The way he was moving, Galen was going to hit the ground head first, so he put his hands in front of him and rolled, landing in a kneeling position. When Galen tried to acquire his target in his sight he found Cyru directly in front of him. Cyru kicked Galen in the face, sending Galen into another tree. Cyru ran to the tree and kicked it, or rather, kicked through it, sending it crashing down onto Galen. The tree rose slowly from where Galen lay, supported by an invisible force. 

          "How did you do that, without the force?" asked Galen.

          Cyru seemed to search for a response for a moment before answering. "I am… naturally strong." He said

          Galen got up and put his hand to his to his face, healing himself with the force. When he finished, Galen wiped the blood from his face and said, "that makes a good first round, for the second let's say that we use the force?"

          Cyru nodded. He knew that Galen was vastly stronger than he was in the force, Galen was vastly stronger than nearly everyone in the force. The reason Cyru agreed was because, without the force, he would always have the advantage over anyone. This sparring had been Galen's idea, and Cyru had to admit he was impressed with Galen's ability, he just wasn't as good as Cyru. _But he worked for it_ he told himself._ And that is why he is strong. I am merely powerful._

          Round two began without any more words spoken. Galen tossed his hand out in front of him and Cyru felt a sudden force knock him down. Galen was using telekinesis to attack him, Cyru launched a similar attack Galen, but he found his target wasn't where he had been. Cyru stood, only to feel Galen's attack hit the back of his head, it was more tangible, so he must have struck him, and it covered too much space to be a punch, so it must have been a kick. This kick was more powerful than any of Galen's previous kicks, he must been using the force to enhance his strength. Cyru started to fall forward from the force of Galen's kick, but he caught himself on his hands and fired a kick behind him, sending Galen flying. This time, instead of hitting a tree, Galen stopped himself in midair, and stretched out towards Cyru, summoning a powerful wind. Cyru wasn't on his feet, and was very off balance, that's why the wind pulled him back, he only stopped when he managed to grab hold of two trees. Cyru gritted his teeth, firmly planted his feet, and dug his toes into the ground. Now that Cyru had his balance, there was almost no wind that could knock him down.   Cyru sprinted for Galen, switching to second mind; a way of thinking that allowed only thought pertaining to tactics and battle to have any kind of dominance in his mind. Galen used the wind to increase his speed as he charged Cyru. Galen's punch would have actually hurt Cyru, had it landed. Everything had always seemed so slow in second mind, except Cyru's movements. In second mind he could see everything coming, and it was no challenge to dodge. Galen was moving fast though, roughly as fast as Cyru himself, and his strength was enhanced too. Those observing saw each movement with at least five after images chasing the limbs that had moved, no strike hitting anything but air. Cyru used telekinesis to bind Galen so he couldn't move. Cyru was surprised to see Galen keep moving as if the bonds were nothing. But when Cyru moved to dodge the attacks that were thrown at him, Galen disappeared from where he was and reappeared where he had been bound. He had used an illusion so that Cyru would stop concentrating on holding him, but now the technique that had been used against Galen was the tool he wielded.  Cyru found himself unable to move. Galen struck Cyru's head hard, for a moment Cyru just lied where he landed, his head bent backwards, as if he was trying to look up. Galen looked slightly worried that he had gone to far, but to everyone's relief, Cyru stood, dusted himself off and said, "You win, Galen Salde."

          With the entertainment finished for now, the students returned to where they would normally be, different classes. These new Jedi were learning the ways of the force quickly.

Ok everyone, I know this chapter is really short; I just didn't have anywhere else to end it. Sorry that I don't write new chapters as often as I should, I'll try to find time to write more often. Anyway, remember to review, reviews are great!


	3. Prophecy

Alright I'm back. I'm really sorry it took so long, but it took me a while to decide on what to do (thanks for that goes to Jaid Skywalker and Dathomiri Chick) and even longer to decide how to write it. Oh, something I should bring up. I was going through my notes and various character bios recently. Turns out that I've got thirty three character bios. So I'd like to tell you that some characters probably won't be very vital, I'm gonna try to give everyone a big important part, but there's only so much I can do. Sorry to everyone who ends up getting a small part, and to those I haven't brought into the story yet. The latter of which can rest assured that I probably have something in mind for your character, I just can't do it yet.

Chronicles of the New Jedi Knights: Prelude to Darkness Prophecy 

          Galen Salde threw punch after punch that connected with the bag hanging in the training room of the ship _Knight_. He knew some of the newer students were worried about him; he rarely left his ship except to eat. To the students that knew him, however, this was no unusual thing. They knew he was dedicated to his training.  _Ninety-nine, One hundred, now._ Galen jumped away from the bag into a flip, which was meant to land him on his feet. He had been training for too long though, he lost momentum halfway through the flip and started to fall. Realizing what was happening, he threw his hands out to catch himself, only to find that his arms felt like water, and quickly gave way under his weight. He hit the durasteel floor hard, probably giving himself a concussion, but he couldn't let a minor thing like that slow him down. Galen tried to rise from where he lay, but his legs wouldn't obey him, they were too tired. Galen used telekinesis to flip a switch to turn off the training mode. There was a sound of machinery powering down and Galen let out a sigh of relief. Galen had intended to go to his sleeping quarters on the _Knight_ and get three hours of sleep before he returned to training, but he fell asleep before he could get up. He slept there for eight hours, the most sleep he'd had in a long time.

          "Ok, now what?" Rachel Key was standing outside the Jedi academy in a group of about thirteen other students all using practice lightsabers. Since Rachel had re-built her saber so that it was double bladed, Kevin Palor had agreed to teach her how to use it, since he was the only one who had a saber like that. She was holding two of the practice lightsabers bonded at the handles, before her stood Kevin, holding a similar "weapon".

          "Hold it with both hands, not at the middle, but not at the edges either," said Kevin, his unruly brown hair swaying slightly in the breeze.

          Rachel obeyed, and held up her practice weapon towards her partner. "Like this?"

          "Almost," said Kevin before he hit the handle between where her hands were, the weapon promptly dropped from her grip. "You want to hold it with one hand gripping it one way and another gripping it the other way." Rachel picked up her practice weapon and did as Kevin had instructed her. 

          "Ok, good. There are ten basic strikes, the first one comes in at this angle…"

          "Five! Five! I'm hit! Cover me!"

          Raven Saphire ground her teeth in irritation, "I'm on my way four, hang on!" Raven's Z-295 headhunter broke to port, losing the would-be targeting lock she was about to acquire on one of her enemies. Looking at her instruments she realized there was no way she was going to get there in time, she quickly re-routed power from lasers to engines to give her the needed burst of speed. She sank back into the thin cushion of the pilot's couch as the engines increased thrust, but only for a moment. Soon the inertial compensator evened out the G-forces, but she was surprised when she heard an explosion behind her, and saw red lights flash across the fighters readouts. Scanning the damage report she saw that the top two engines had overloaded, resulting in a small explosion that rendered those two engines useless and damaged a third. Raven bit off a curse as she heard the warning tone of a targeting lock. Two blue streaks soared through the dark void of space towards her, Raven sighed in disappointment before the proton torpedoes collided. The viewports went dark and the cockpit canopy opened, revealing a room filled with snubfighter simulators and a group of Jedi and trainees watching a holo of the fighters still engaged in the exercise. A glance to her left revealed Azianius Lacrosse, a human man in his mid-twenties with black and silver hair and brown eyes, and also flight instructor of the Jedi academy. "Why did my engines blow up?" asked Raven.

          "Your lasers were fully charged when you re-routed power, normally that wouldn't have been a problem, but your energy regulators were damaged when your engines took that blast, therefore they couldn't handle that much energy."

          Raven sighed, she probably should have known that. Oh well, piloting wasn't exactly her forte. She was strong in the force, but the intuition most Jedi had when they were flying didn't seem to extend to her. It did the first time she had flown in one of the simulators, but she had been very stressed right then and she didn't know why, Azianius said it had something to do her first time in a sim, even though it wasn't real it _seemed_ real. It just seemed like the calmer she was the less the force helped her when she was flying. Raven heard a chorus of shouts and groans as the last pilot on her team was shot down. Of course, Anakin Solo had the highest score, again. He was really starting to get annoying in that way, but Raven didn't hold it against him, he never made a big show of the fact that he was one of the best pilots on Yavin, the only time Raven had seen him lose was when he went one on one with Corran Horn in the sims. Raven glanced at her chrono, class was basically over and she was sweating profusely from the sim run, so she decided to find the fresher and get a shower.

          Lara Key was sitting in Jazira Orod's first aid class using half of her mind to commit Jazira's words to memory and the other half to read the datapad she was holding. It was titles "The Legend of the Ka Terris Knights," most people wouldn't find it as exciting as the title implied, it was really more like a textbook about something no one knew much about. The Ka Terris Knights were a group of Jedi knights led by a Jedi Knight named Ka Terris          . Not much else in it was established as fact. The rest was just rumors and theories. Judging from the fact that it was the only consistency, Lara guessed that the Ka Terris Knights were connected to the Sith somehow. _What was the last thing she said?_ Lara asked herself. When she couldn't come up with the answer she decided it would be better to pay more attention to the class than the datapad.

          "… don't try to suck the venom out of the wound using your mouth, it probably won't work and will just risk poisoning yourself. What you should do instead when someone has been injected with poison, either by design or creature, is to tie a…"

          Lara sighed. She had never had a real interest in first aid, but she had decided to take this class so she might as well get as much out of it as she could. 

_The Knights of old shall rise again, with faces new._

_Tainted by past, redeemed by choice. _

_The battle is theirs, though they cannot win, _

_They may triumph. Theirs is a role that they must be played,_

_Though not the most crucial. Without them, all is tainted,_

_Nothing is redeemed._

_Prophecy of Kel-Durat, Jedi Master._

Ok, yeah, really short I know, and not nearly worth the wait. Oh, anyone have any guesses about any future events? Hmm? (not you neo, we've already Role Played some of this stuff) guess can be about anything you think might happen (e.g.- stuff like who someone is that I didn't name or events that you think might happen or different couples (note on that, I don't claim to be good romance writer and I'm pretty sure I'm not, so I'm definitely not going to make it the major point of the fic, at least I'm not planning to, and I apologize in advance for any sucky writing on my part))!!! Well, I hope this chapter finds you well, remember to read and review!


	4. Dreams

I'm really sorry about how long the chapters are taking to come out (and yes, I do know how often I say that). That's about it. 

Disclaimer: I made a mistake. Myra Sage belongs to Padme Skywalker (sorry for not giving credit where it's due!)

Chronicles of the New Jedi Knights: Prelude to Darkness 

Dreams 

          Nikki Kenobi stood alone. Alone… that word seemed to resound through her mind. _Where am I? _she asked herself. She didn't recognize her surroundings. _You're alone_, said a voice that sounded so much like her own. _I'm alone. Why am I alone?_ _I don't want to be alone._

          "You don't have to be," said a deep voice, filled with confidence and assurance. 

          Nikki spun to the source of the voice, but she only saw the endless void that had lain before her, and to either side. "Who are you?" she asked, half with courage, half timid. 

          _Does it really matter who I am?_ The voice spoke directly into her mind. No, of course it didn't matter, why would it? _There's no reason to be afraid of me, Nikki._ Nikki almost laughed, she had been a little afraid, hadn't she? Why had she? She knew she could trust this man. _Come, Nikki. Come._

          "Where are you?" she asked desperately, she didn't want to be left behind._ I'm in front of you, look._

          Nikki looked and saw a man that was glowing bright and warm, he was smiling at her encouragingly. "I'm coming!" shouted Nikki as she began to approach.

          She moved forward as if in a trance, she wondered why she had always resisted this. _Resisted? What have I always resisted?_

          _That's not important._ The man said. _Just come._ Nikki was confused, he had almost sounded mean a second ago. She looked back up at him, at his eyes. His eyes were… hateful, and predatory. She stopped and tried to figure out who this was. 

          Nikki's pondering were interrupted by a bellow of rage. "FOOL! I DO NOT NEED YOU! YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A MERE CHILD TO ME!"  

          Now Nikki saw him for what he was, the illusion of light and warmth faded away, replaced by a vile spawn of the Dark Side. "You cannot resist the Dark Side, there is nothing you can do, you will give in; it is your _destiny_." He put a special emphasis on the word. "None can resist me, none can stand before me!" 

          Nikki glared at the appalling figure before her. She took a step back to plant her feet evenly, crossed her arms and raised her chin to look down on the apparition, everything about her screamed defiance. "I will stand before you!" 

          "Will you?" the figure asked, a twinge of amusement in his voice. 

          "I—" Nikki had meant to say "I will," but she never got the second word off. Before she could say it a force hit the side her face, sending her sprawling and probably shattering her jaw. Still defiant, she began to stand again, but it was as if someone had punched her in gut, someone strong enough to shatter a mountain. Nikki flew back, and skidded a few times before she came to a stop, she was having trouble breathing, but she could manage. "What now, Jedi? You still resist me?" A wall of flame erected itself in front of her, she flinched from the heat that was starting to singe her hair, the acrid smell of burnt hair permeated the air. The flames intensified.  "What will you do Jedi?"

          Nikki tried to turn away from the wall, but she felt a sharp pressure on the small of her back, keeping her from turning or backing away. The pressure became hot, like a heated needle, but hotter and sharper than anything she had ever experienced. It was boring into her, driving her forward, into the wall of fire. Nikki shielded her eyes with her arm, but it did little good. The flames burned brighter and hotter, making her wince. 

          Without warning the dark figure stepped through the flames, and the wall and the pressure both vanished as if they had never been.  Nikki floated up in the grasp of the man's mind until she was eye level with him. "Do you yield, Jedi?" he asked. Nikki shook her head, or tried to, she was very weak now. The man grabbed her head, his palm covered her face and his fingers seemed to bore into her skull like hot irons. "You cannot resist forever," he said. Nikki heard a crackling sound behind her and felt intense heat, she knew another inferno was blazing. The man tossed Nikki towards it, she would have screamed if she could. 

          Nikki awoke with a start, realizing it was all a dream. Her back felt a little sore, but that was about it. She sighed in relief; it was only a dream. Nikki arose and glanced out the window, it was early yet, but not by much, so she made her way to the refresher. When she looked at herself in the mirror she saw five bright red ovals on her face, at different intervals, about the size of someone's fingerprint. _Maybe more than a dream_…

          Galen Salde was in the training room of his ship, the _Knight_ doing one-handed pushups, just one hand; his feet were in the air. _I had the dream again last night. Many of the others must have also; I will have to be cautious. Don't know whom I can trust. Must protect everyone, from Sith. It is my responsibility, my responsibility. No one else should have to suffer. No one. This battle is mine to fight. I will fight it. My responsibility, no one else will suffer._

_An ancient menace shall be resurrected, though young._

_Once allies, now traitors._

_They will oppose, and cannot triumph,_

_But they can ruin. Their destiny must be so._

_Another is more important, that other _

_Is most dangerous, can destroy everything._

_Dying words of Daltarin Nor Ga, Sith Lord._

Once again, far too short. I've decided what I'm going to do for the person with the most reviews, though I'm not going to tell you yet, after all I don't want to give away part of the story. I have so much already planned, and so much not. I profusely thank those who review, you guys are great, especially considering how long it takes me to write these chapters. I know it seems kind of biased with how much time certain characters get, but for some characters I still have yet to figure out how they're going to play into the story. As for when there will be more about the Sith, I dunno. I guess that depends on if I remember to do that when I sit down to write these chapters. To tell the truth, I just now remembered it myself. Suggestions and criticism is always welcome (well, most suggestions and criticism anyway). I hope this chapter finds you well, Ja ne!


	5. A Decision

Alright, here I am, I'm back. Umm, I feel like I should make this intro really long or something but there's not all that much to say. I don't even know why I just put this little paragraph here, it serves no real purpose. Yeah, I guess I'm just wasting space and stalling until I can figure out what I'n giubg ti wrute tgus cagaoter abiyt. Oh, by the way the previous twelve words are the results of me trying to watch tv while I type. Pretty amusing huh? What it was suppose to be was "…I can figure out what I'm going to write this chapter about." Oh well, I guess I'm done rambling. 

The Chronicles of the New Jedi Knights: Prelude to Darkness 

A Decision

          Treen Tsi tried desperately to hold onto his sanity in a raging storm of darkness, hate, and evil. The harsh winds of this place tried to take his balance from him, but he knew if he fell it would be over. The winds subsided, but this had happened before, and Treen was ready when they picked up twice as strong as before. It was a lot of effort to keep standing in defiance of the winds, but he persevered, desperately trying to remain standing against the fierce onslaught that assaulted him. Again the winds subsided, this time Treen was alarmed. If the winds were any stronger than they just had been then there was no way he'd be able to hold out for long. "You have done well, Sith," said a voice that was all around him and inside him, the voice boomed with intensity and he couldn't hear it. It was everywhere and it was nowhere. With more malice and sadistic glee than Treen had previously thought possible the voice asked, "Do you desire power?"

          A wind blew across Yavin IV. The wind carried on it the scents of a dozen different animals, information that would be useful to various predators. The wind blew further and was a welcome relief to the Jedi students practicing their lightsaber skills on the bright, humid day. The wind continued still to another massassi temple, but the chill in those empty halls had nothing to do with the wind. 

          Lorania's gazed with sorrow at the inanimate form before her that. Treen Tsi, that's what his name had been, now he was just a living corpse. He had entered the trance, just as all the Sith had to at one point or another endure.  What happened in that trance… Lorania shivered, she never wanted to remember that again. After her trance she remembered being pretty helpless. She remembered watching others in the trance, most of them were as bad as she was, if not worse…the others died. Their screams had echoed through her mind then and she though they would haunt her for the rest of her life, but they were nothing compared to what actually happened in the trance. 

          Lorania had always been reluctant to hurt Jedi, and the trance caused her to start thinking about turning. Treen had been her support while she recovered from her ordeal, not so much anything he did or said, but the fact that he was sane and that he didn't lord his authority over her. Treen being thrown into that trance had been something else that had caused her to think of turning to the light side of the force, but that wasn't the only reason.

          During her time watching the Jedi train, she had developed feelings for one of them, that was a big reason. _What if he doesn't accept me?_ The girl shook her head as if to physically dismiss the thought, she could deal with that when or if she came to it. 

          And finally, Treen hadn't awakened yet. No one that spent that long in the trance survived, and Lorania didn't want to hear those screams. She looked down at him, his pale skin accented the jet-black hair that fell past his shoulders, and his normally intelligent brown eyes were clenched shut, lines of concentration on his face and his eyebrows came to a point. He looked so peaceful, for him at least, it was hard to believe he'd be dead soon. 

          With a sigh, Lorania picked up her few possessions, besides her X-wing, and walked away. Lorania stepped out of the massassi temple and let the wind that rushed through the trees play with her hair for a moment, the breeze felt good on such a hot day. Her red lips curved into one of her rare smiles, for once she was completely at peace with what she was doing. With that moment gone, the wind died, as did her smile. She made her way through the jungle to another massassi temple on Yavin IV, one were Jedi were trained.

Insanely short chapter? Yes. Here's how I justify it being so short:

1: I plan on giving you an excerpt from a future chapter (wording may be a little different).

2: I want suggestions for who Lorania's fallen for, and no, Treen isn't an option (sorry Dathomiri Chick). Has to be a Jedi and it can't be Cyru either, he's to old, remember Lorania's 14. Also, if you want you can suggest other couples. Any questions you want answered? Feel free to ask, on instant messenger (yes I welcome Ims) or in a review, I'll prolly answer unless it's a really stupid question (well, stupid questions get stupid answers) or its something I don't want to give away yet.

As for how I justify taking this long to write this little, well I don't. in my defense I wanted to put the events in this chapter much later, but I couldn't think of any space fillers, hope you enjoy anyway.

          Galen turned to her, and she almost thought she saw pain, and anger in her eyes. "You don't know what's coming, do you? There's no way you could know! I've seen the future, or one possible future, and it gives me nightmares, every night! I fear it and I will do what I must to avoid it," 

          She was shocked, she remembered a time on Dathomir when a wild rancor was charging a small child. Galen didn't even blink, he simply rushed at the rancor and killed it. For Galen to be afraid, she had always thought it impossible.

          "As for why do I torture myself, it's called training. I'm nowhere near the level I need to be, and I don't let any of you train with me because you won't survive, if that satisfies you I'll go back to my training now."

Interested yet? Review! Please!


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